


Sanders Sides College Crush AU

by PaigePenn



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: College Crush AU, Human AU, M/M, Multi, Useless Gays, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2020-03-08 09:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaigePenn/pseuds/PaigePenn
Summary: Roman's roommate is the cutest, and he accidentally confesses his love in the most embarrassing way possible.The idea for this story was originally spawned by a prompt by @hiddendreamer67 on tumblr.This story can also be read onDeviantArtortumblr, though the colored text works best here or on tumblr desktop.This story is not being written chronologically. It can easily be read in the order it's written, but if you want to read it chronologically, I have provided links in the chapter end notes. (no link means that the next chapter written is also the next chapter chronologically)





	1. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman sends some embarrassing texts to the wrong group chat.

**The original prompt, by @hiddendreamer67:**  
So person A has a crush on their roommate person B. So A is just watching B across the room doing something normal like studying but A is giving a play-by-play in text form to best friend person C just talking about how adorable B is and how this should not even be allowed how are they so frickin’ adorable- And then in their haste they accidentally one of these fawning texts directly to person B. 👀

**part 1**

Roman and Virgil are roommates. They don’t talk to each other much, and Virgil tends to keep to himself. But as time goes by, Roman finds himself drawn to the little emo. There’s just something about him that makes Roman’s heart go ‘!!!’

He hasn’t told anyone about his crush, except for his friends Logan and Patton.

One day, both roommates are sitting on their beds, because no matter what Logan says about the back problems that could cause, college students use their beds as desk and couch as well. Virgil is on his computer, probably doing homework, and Roman’s on his phone, texting Logan and Patton.

In fact, Roman’s gushing in their group chat about how cute Virgil is. Patton’s away from his phone at the moment, while Logan’s just replying with extremely calm logical responses, but Roman’s passion is so strong that not even Logan’s near-total lack of romantic sense will dampen it.

After a while, Virgil stops what he’s doing on his computer to look at his phone instead. He frowns in thought, and it’s just too adorable. Roman tells Logan about it. Virgil’s reading something, and he looks surprised at what he sees. Roman can hardly contain himself at how cute it is. After a few moments, Virgil lifts his head and looks over at Roman, who looks away and sends another flustered text.

“Roman?” Virgil says after a moment.

“Y-yeah?” Roman squeaks.

Virgil glances at his phone again, and then says slowly, “You do realize… you realize you’ve been texting the group chat I’m in, right?”

_what?_

Roman looks back at his phone in shock. Sure enough, instead of just texting Logan and Patton… he’s been texting Logan, Patton, _and Virgil._

He thinks he’s going to die of embarrassment.

Virgil’s looking at his phone again, scrolling through the messages. The oodles of long, detailed messages about how cute he is. Roman wants to run over there and snatch his phone away, but he can’t move. Finally, Virgil says, not looking up from his phone,

“It’s a little creepy how much you were staring at me.”

Roman cringes. He messed up, he messed up, now Virgil won’t even want to talk to him anymore–

Virgil speaks again, cutting through Roman’s panicked thoughts. “Good thing I think you’re cute too, Princey.”

**Part 2**

Roman sends a panicked text in all caps: LOGAN VIRGILS IN THIS GROUP CHAT TOO! 😰😰

Logan’s response, moments later: Yes? I assumed this was your way of confessing your love?

Roman sends three texts in quick succession. NO! I’M GOING TO DIE OF SHAME!

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SECRET CONFESSION OF LOVE FOR YOUR EARS ONLY!

WHY WOULD I INTENTIONALLY TEXT VIRGIL ABOUT HOW CUTE HE IS AND HOW MUCH I WANT TO KISS HIM?????????

Logan: How should I know? I’m aro; this is not my area of expertise. I don’t know how romantic feelings are supposed to work, other than that they tend to make people act in peculiar ways. I simply know that in order for courtship to begin, said feelings must first be expressed.

Roman: NO! THIS WAS AN ACCIDENT!

I WANTED TO TELL HIM WITH SOME GRAND ROMANTIC GESTURE, NOT LIKE THIS!!!!

Virgil: youre still in the same group chat btw

Roman hurls his phone across the room.

Virgil looks over at him, then back at his phone. He’s visibly texting, and a few seconds later Roman hears his phone buzz on the floor. He groans, flinging himself face down on the pillow.

Roman’s phone buzzes again, but he just lies there, not moving. It buzzes once more, and with a dramatic sigh, Roman gets up and fetches it. As expected, there are a few new texts.

The first is from Patton. Hey kiddos! I just got out of the shower to find a hundred new texts! It’s gonna take me a bit to read through them all!💙

Next, a reply from Virgil: tldr roman thinks im cute

Patton: Awwww!! He finally told you?! ❤💜❤💜

Roman feels his face burning. He reads the final text, which is from Virgil. roman I agree with logan please don’t ask me to the dance on friday I dont like people

Roman’s heart, which had been in his throat, drops to his toes, and he sinks onto his bed, crushed. Virgil hated his date idea. Maybe hated him, too. His phone buzzes again, and Roman looks down at it.

we could watch one of your disney movies tho


	2. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman asks Virgil out, but he once again fails to check who he's texting. This takes place a day or two after Chapter 1.

Roman sends a text, feeling like he'd swallowed butterflies. Movie tonight? I'll make popcorn.🍿📺

sure, Virgil replies, and Roman feels his heart give a happy leap. hows six?

Perfect!

Roman's phone buzzes with another text. It's from Patton, and Roman realizes that he was accidentally in the group chat, again, instead of texting just Virgil like he'd intended. He really ought to pay more attention.

I might be a little late cause I have a thing that goes til six, but I'll be there!

Roman frowns at his phone. Sorry, Padre, you can't come on our date, he types, but before he can push send, a text from Virgil pops up.

thats fine patton

Roman's heart sinks down to his shoes. If Virgil's okay with letting Patton third-wheel, this must not actually be a date. He sadly puts his thumb on the delete key, holding it there until the text is gone.

His phone buzzes again, and a text from Patton pops up. Great! Should I bring anything? 

Roman doesn't know how to reply, but Virgil seems to have it covered. bring logan so itll be a double date

So it was a date? Except…

Logan's aromantic. He doesn't date.

Virgil's reply doesn't take long. he and patton are in a qpr tho?

Wait, what? Roman hadn't known that. Apparently who he was texting wasn't the only thing he needed to pay more attention to.

so whatever the queerplatonic version of a date is, says Virgil's next text.

Logan joins the conversation next, while Roman is still staring at his phone. 'Date' is acceptable, although I would prefer to find a word specific to queerplatonic relationships. Tonight at six is agreeable. Has the movie been chosen yet?

Roman shakes himself. No, I figured we'd pick it shortly before watching.

Bring pillows, we'll make a cozy nest to watch in.

It's a date!


	3. A Date (Sort Of)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Useless Gays flirt over pancakes. This takes place within a week of Chapter 1.

It’s two a.m., and Roman and Virgil are in the commons kitchen, because reasonable sleep schedules are for people who don’t have anxiety or insomnia. Virgil is, of course, sitting on top of the counter just to the left of the stove even though there are chairs and beanbags scattered around the commons. Roman’s making pancakes.

They'd just made a midnight grocery run, glad that there was a store within walking distance that stayed open all night, and now Roman's mixing the ingredients in a slightly beat up metal bowl they’d found in one of the cupboards. With a fork, because they couldn’t find a whisk. The proportions might be a bit off, because Roman didn’t use any sort of measuring device, instead adding flour and water by turns until it was about the right consistency, but pancakes are pretty simple, so he figures they’ll turn out alright. They couldn’t find a griddle either, but they have a frying pan that only looks a little sketchy. (Roman washed it before using it, just in case. At least the kitchen is kept well stocked on dish soap.)

Virgil watches as Roman finishes mixing the batter and sets the bowl on the counter, fork propped up against the edge. The instant he turns away, the fork slides down into the batter and vanishes. Roman puts the frying pan on the stove and pours some oil into it. Soon, it’s sizzling, and Roman turns back to the mixing bowl. He stares at it thoughtfully, and Virgil thinks that he’s realised that the fork sank, until Roman starts opening drawers and cabinets again.

Virgil sends him a text. whatcha lookin for?

Roman leans over to see his phone where it sits on the counter, and then grins over his shoulder at Virgil. “Something to scoop with,” he said.

mug? Virgil suggests.

“I haven’t seen any,” Roman counters, but Virgil points with his phone to the cabinet by the fridge. Roman opens it, and lo and behold, there are in fact several mugs inside. Most of them look like they were stolen from the mess hall. Roman grabs one of these and, leaving all the cabinet doors wide, goes back to the pancake batter. Using the mug as a makeshift scoop, he pours three pancakes in the pan. It sizzles louder, and Virgil’s stomach makes a noise as well. Roman glances back at him. “You can have the first one,” he says sweetly. Virgil grins and ducks his head.

A minute later, Roman hands him a pancake. Not a pancake on a plate, just a pancake. It’s hot, and crispy on the edges, and it smells wonderful. Virgil bites into it. Roman had insisted on chopping a banana into the batter, and now Virgil’s glad he did. It’s delicious, even without any toppings. It’s gone in moments, and Roman hands him another. Roman eats the third himself, pouring three more at the same time.

Virgil’s done with his pancake before the next batch is done, so he just sits there for several moments, watching Roman watch them cook. When they’re done, Roman offers him the first one again, and Virgil takes it with a shy smile. Roman lets the other two sit on the spatula, resting on the small bit of counter between Virgil and the stove, as he pours another batch and fetches the fork out. Then Roman takes a pancake and leans on the other counter, grinning up at Virgil as he eats it. _Does he have any idea how cute he is?_ Virgil wonders. Then, with a mental shrug, he thinks, _Probably. He’s got eyes._

Before Virgil can start thinking too hard about those eyes, and how pretty they are, Roman looks back at the stove and moves to flip the pancakes. They both realize at the same time that the spatula is occupied, and Virgil lifts the pancake off it. Roman grabs the spatula, flipping the pancakes, and Virgil nibbles on the one he’d just grabbed, watching him.

“Should probably look for a plate,” Roman murmurs, opening cabinets again. Virgil watches over his shoulder, but he doesn’t see any plates. Then Roman’s standing right in front of him, and Virgil’s breath catches as Roman reaches past him to open the upper cabinets right behind him. “Watch your head,” Roman says, and Virgil leans forward to avoid getting hit in the back of the head by the door. Roman’s face is _right there_! Virgil ducks his head to hide his blush.

And to resist the temptation to kiss him.

Roman doesn’t find any plates in that cabinet either, so he moves on. Virgil wishes, more than just a bit, that he’d stay, but instead of saying so, he stuffs pancake into his mouth.

Roman pauses his search to take the pancakes off and pour a new set. He grabs the top one off the stack, munching on it as he starts opening lower cabinets. When he gets to where Virgil’s sitting, Roman softly says, “Excuse me,” putting his hand gently on Virgil’s calf. The touch feels like an electric shock, but in a good way. It takes a few seconds for Virgil to realize what Roman wants, and he pulls his legs up so Roman can open the cabinet.

“Found some!” Roman exclaims, triumphantly grabbing a stack of paper plates out of the cupboard. He peels one off the top and tosses the rest back in, closing the door with a triumphant _slam_.

Virgil lets his legs drop over the edge of the counter again, and Roman transfers the pancakes from the spatula to the paper plate, and flips the pancakes still in the pan.

When Roman looks up at him again, Virgil gives him a smile and pats the counter space beside himself. Roman grins like Virgil had just handed him a boxed set of all the classic Disney Princess movies, complete with hours of behind the scenes materials. He comes over and, turning his back to the counter, tries to jump up onto it. However, Roman doesn’t have nearly as much experience as Virgil in sitting on top of things that aren’t meant to be sat upon, so he doesn’t manage to get up. Virgil can’t see his face, but he thinks Roman is pouting.

Virgil leans forward, grasping Roman’s sleeve to lift his arm. Roman looks up at him in surprise, and Virgil falters. But no, it’s not an annoyed expression. Virgil sets Roman’s hand on the edge of the counter, and gestures for Roman do do the same with the other. Roman obeys, but doesn’t seem to understand why Virgil’s having him do this. Virgil picks up his phone, but realizes that Roman’s is sitting on the opposite counter. If Virgil texts him, he’ll move away. Virgil doesn’t want Roman to move away. He'll just have to make his voice come out, even though it was being shy.

“You… have to have leverage,” he says softly. “To jump high enough. Push down with your hands.”

Roman, following instructions, is able to awkwardly clamber on top of the counter. He sits very close to Virgil, so that there’s barely an inch between their legs. Virgil looks away, pretending to check on the pancakes. Finally, Roman stops shifting around on the counter, and Virgil looks back at him. _Oh gosh, he’s close_. Roman grins at him, and Virgil can’t help grinning back. Is his heart supposed to beat so hard that he can feel it?

They sit like that for several moments, before Roman starts. “The pancakes!” he says. “I gotta take them off!”

Virgil looks back at the pancakes. They do look about done. He wonders if he can reach them without getting down, so he tries. It’s a little awkward, but he manages to get them onto the paper plate. He can not, however, reach the bowl of batter, resting on the other side of the stove, so Virgil hops down.

“Should probably add some more oil now,” Roman says, so Virgil pours some into the pan. Was that too much? He’s not sure. Roman doesn’t comment on it, though, so Virgil decides it’s probably not going to ruin everything. He pours the pancakes. It’s messier than when Roman did it, and they’re sizzling in all the oil, but it’s fine. Probably.

Virgil goes back to the counter, hopping up next to Roman. Their legs are actually touching now, though Virgil hadn’t meant to do that. He wonders if he should move away, but before he’s decided, Roman puts his head on Virgil’s shoulder.

_Oh._ This is… nice, Virgil realizes. He pats Roman’s head with a soft smile.

They sit there for several minutes, just eating pancakes. When Virgil has to lean over to flip the batch, Roman grumbles a little at having to lift his head, so Virgil does the task as quickly as he can and returns to his previous position. Roman doesn’t put his head on Virgil’s shoulder again, however. Instead, he’s watching him, eating a pancake without seeming to pay much attention to it. Virgil wonders what’s on his mind.

“Can I…” Roman says slowly, after a while. “Can I… kiss you?”

Virgil wonders if his face is as red as it feels. He doesn’t trust his voice to come out, so he just nods. Roman leans forward, and Virgil does too. They bump noses, and realize they have to turn their heads to the sides. At first they both turn the same way, and then overcorrect in the other direction. Roman’s giggling. Virgil’s not sure what’s happening inside his stomach, but it sure doesn’t feel like what it usually does.

Virgil lifts one hand and puts it on Roman’s cheek, like he’d seen in Roman’s disney films, and Roman stops giggling and looks at him with wide eyes. Wide, beautiful, brown eyes. Virgil takes a breath, hoping it'll steady him. It doesn’t, really. But here goes. Virgil leans forward, squishing his lips against Roman’s. He feels that sort of electric shock again, but stronger, and better.

The moment is broken by the wailing of an alarm. The boys flinch apart, and Virgil looks wildly around for the source. The pan is smoking, and the pancakes look rather darker around the edges than they ought.

Roman falls off the counter, scrambles to his feet, and grabs the hand towel off the stove door, waving it in the air. Virgil can only stare with wide eyes for a moment, but then he moves to turn off the stove and shove the pan off the hot burner.

The smoke fades, but the alarm is still blaring, and Virgil winces. Everyone else in the building is going to _hate_ them for this.

“Good thing that was the last batch anyway,” Roman shouts above the alarm. Virgil nods. At least they won’t be wasting batter.

Students, grumpy with being forced out of bed, start coming down the stairs and trailing out the front doors. Roman and Virgil join the group, and are soon standing just outside the dormitory hall. The alarm still blares, but it’s muffled somewhat.

Virgil sees Logan in the crowd, with a powder blue blanket draped around him, and nudges Roman to point him out.

Roman looks confused. “I thought Lo lived in Barri,” he mumbles.

Virgil shrugs.

Patton’s there too, which makes more sense. Patton’s one of the RAs on the floor above Virgil and Roman. He’s not looking their way, but Virgil sends him a text. I see you :p After he sends it, though, he realizes that Patton might not even have his phone on him. He’s in his pajamas, after all, a fluffy gray robe over what looks like a flannel print of puppies and kittens. But apparently Patton had grabbed his phone before leaving his room, because he pulls it out of his pocket and looks at it. Then he looks around, and Virgil gives him a very small wave. Patton lights up, and the happy look on his face is enough to make Virgil smile too.

Patton comes over to them, and Logan, seeing him, follows. “Hi!” Patton greets them excitedly.

Logan looks far less enthusiastic about being awake. “What idiot set off the smoke alarm?” he says in the voice of one who has been dragged from a deep slumber and resents it.

Beside Virgil, Roman sputters, and Logan looks at him.

“Oh,” Logan says, in a marginally fonder voice. “Our idiot.”

Patton swats him in the shoulder.

With a yawn, Logan asks, “What did you set on fire?”

“Pancakes,” Roman admits. “And they didn’t so much go up in flames as… start smoking.”

Logan looks intrigued, now, though his expression is still primarily ‘let me go to sleep.’ “How did you manage that?” he asks.

“Well, we didn’t have an actual griddle,” Roman starts, and Virgil resists the urge to take his hand. Then Roman glances at Virgil, a hint of pink creeping up his cheeks, and adds, “and… we got… distracted.” Virgil feels his face heating up again, and he looks away, hoping that his friends can’t see him blushing. It’s probably a lost cause, though.

Patton squeals, but thankfully it’s subdued appropriately for this time of night. “Aww!”

If Virgil wasn’t visibly blushing before, he was sure he was now. At least Patton doesn’t seem upset with them, even though Logan looks somewhat annoyed still. Virgil knows his voice won’t be steady if he tries to speak right now, so he pulls his phone out again, sending a text in their group chat. sorry we woke you up

Logan doesn’t seem to have his phone, and Roman just leans over Virgil’s shoulder to see what he typed — and Virgil angled his phone in his direction, to indicate that that was okay — but Patton gets his phone out again and shows it to Logan, who nods.

“I’m not mad, just sleepy,” Logan says. “When we get the all clear to get back inside, I want to go straight back to bed.”

Roman seems to remember his confusion from earlier. “Don’t you live in _Barrimore_ Hall, Lo?” he asks.

“Yes,” Logan says, and seems content to leave it at that. Patton giggles.

Roman looks between the two of them, then opens his eyes comically wide and claps his hand to his chest, gasping dramatically. “Don’t tell me the two of you are sleeping together!?”

“Not at this instant,” Logan replies calmly, and Roman freezes. He'd clearly been joking around, not expecting any answer resembling a yes. Logan rolls his eyes a bit. “I am aware of the euphemism, and no, we’re not ‘sleeping together’ in that way. But in the literal sense, yes, we were, until you set the smoke alarm off.”

“He’s a really good cuddler!” Patton adds happily. Logan smiles fondly down at him, taking Patton’s hand.

Virgil grins a little, giving them a thumbs-up.

Eventually, the firefighters show up, check out the building, and give them the all-clear. And a warning to be more careful while cooking. Everyone goes back inside. Patton and Logan head straight for the stairs, Logan yawning and Patton leading him by the hand. Most of the other residents go the same way. Virgil and Roman, however, go back to the kitchen.

They don't talk much as they clean up, Virgil washing the dishes and Roman packing up all their ingredients again. When the last dish is dripping in the dishdrainer, the two roommates head back to their room. Roman caries the grocery bag of pancake ingredients.

Back in their room, Roman puts the bag down by the door and flops backwards across Virgil's bed. Virgil walks around it to sit down next to him. Roman looks up at him, his brown eyes adorably wide. "Hey," Roman says softly. Virgil smiles and, deciding to listen to his impulses the once, runs his hand through Roman's hair. Roman immediately looks flustered, so Virgil counts it as a win.

There's something Virgil wants to ask him, but when he opens his mouth to try, he finds that his voice has gotten stuck at the back of his throat. So instead he pulls his phone from his pocket and starts to type. A moment later, he can feel Roman's phone buzz against his hip.

Roman glances toward it, then up at Virgil again. Virgil smiles down at him, and Roman, nodding, mumbles, "Jus' a sec," and pulls his phone from his pocket to read his text.

Virgil, of course, knows what it says. do you want to try that kiss again? 

It takes Roman longer than he'd expected to read the text, and Virgil finds himself staring down at his own phone.

Suddenly, Roman is pushing himself up on his elbows, and Virgil looks over at him. "Yes!" Roman says excitedly.

So, for the second time, Virgil Storm kisses Roman Prince.

This time is even better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chronologically, [6\. The B-Word](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891925/chapters/44867524) happens next. (You can read them in whatever order you want, but they're put up in the order I've written them, rather than chronologically)


	4. Tidbits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Assorted things about the boys

  * Virgil keeps his phone on silent 24/7
  * Roman thinks he introduced Virgil to Logan and Patton, but Virgil and Logan had a chemistry class together, and while they were not lab partners, they were at the same table. Patton sometimes walked Logan to and/or from class or lab.
  * Logan is an _excellent_ cuddler, but only with people he deeply cares about. Patton gets the best cuddles.
  * Virgil occasionally goes nonverbal when he is feeling A Lot. His close friends have, by this point, gotten used to receiving texts or being passed notes.
  * Patton decked the last person to make fun of Virgil for going nonverbal. They didn’t even really know each other yet, Patton just knew what Logan had told him about Virgil. (The decking occurred one of the times Patton came at the end of the chemistry lab to walk with Logan. Virgil had knocked something over and was thus flustered, and one of their classmates proceeded to make fun of him for being clumsy _and_ mute. Patton saw and decided to do something about it.) ~~darnit I have to write this too now~~
  * Logan is roughly six inches taller than Patton.
  * Roman is very active in their college’s theatre (anyone surprised? no?), both onstage and backstage
  * Patton is not aromantic. However, he has absolutely no desire to kiss Logan, despite being attracted to him, because Patton’s the sort of guy who only likes kisses if the other person is enjoying it too, and he knows Logan doesn’t like kisses.
  * Patton was the one to find the term ‘zucchini’ as a queerplatonic equivalent of 'boyfriend/girlfriend/datemate’. Logan was conflicted about the term, since it was also a vegetable, but when Patton made him zucchini bread for their anniversary, he decided he loved it.
  * While Roman frequently sends texts to the wrong recipient or group of recipients, Virgil always double-checks to make sure he’s texting exactly who he wants to be texting.
  * If Logan and Patton want to spend the night together, they always do it in Patton’s room because, being an RA, he doesn’t have a roommate, and does feel like he has an obligation to be in the building at night.
  * Roman and Virgil’s beds are both parallel to the outer wall of their room. Roman’s is under the window, and Virgil’s is closer to the door. Both are pushed against the right wall (as viewed from the doorway) with a space inbetween them, and they each have a desk against the left wall, with a walkspace between them and their beds. There’s a wardrobe/closet built against the front half of the right and left walls. Virgil has the right one, and Roman has the left. (aka the configuration of my dorm second semester of freshman year)
  * Logan and Patton sometimes put on each other’s glasses by mistake in the morning. Logan’s prescription is stronger than Patton’s, but sometimes he’ll think it’s just morning bleariness and go to an early morning class with Patton’s glasses on.
  * Roman likes to say that being gay runs in the family, cause his moms are Very Gay, and one of them’s trans, and he has several queer cousins on both sides. ~~and one transphobic uncle but we don’t acknowledge him.~~
  * Logan, Roman, and Patton all grew up in the same neighborhood, while Virgil grew up across the country from them.




	5. The Infographic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton decides to draw an infographic about the typically romancy-type things that his qpp does and doesn't like. In crayon.  
> Patton doesn't know what day it is.

Patton had tried to get the business office people to make it so Logan's key card could open Patton's dorm room as well, but they'd said it was against some sort of policy. Patton had taken to leaving his door slightly open when he thought Logan was going to come over. And even when he didn't, in case Logan wanted to come over unannounced. Logan had managed to convince him to at least close it when he went to class, but if Patton was in his room, the door was always at least cracked.

One day in late winter, almost spring, Logan decided to pay Patton a visit. Patton, he knew, didn't have any classes right now, and while he might be hanging out in some other building, he also might be in his room. Logan could, of course, have simply texted Patton to ask where he was, but he wanted to surprise him.

Patton was one of the third floor Golding Hall RAs (there were two), and thus lived in Golding 314. Logan appreciated that the number was the first three digits of pi, making it easier to remember. When he arrived at Patton's door, it was open about a foot, and Logan could hear soft music coming from inside. Logan knocked to alert Patton to his presence, and then entered without waiting for a response.

Patton was sprawled out on the floor, facing away from the door, but as Logan entered, he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked over his shoulder at him.

"Logan!" he exclaimed happily, bounding to his feet. Logan stepped forward, opening his arms, and Patton crashed into him. Logan wrapped his arms snugly around his qpp, holding him close and smiling fondly into his hair.

"Hi Patt," he said.

"Hi Lo," Patton replied with a giggle, burying his face in Logan's chest, his own arms wrapped as far and as tightly around Logan as he could get them. "I missed you."

"We ate breakfast together less than three hours ago," Logan reminded him gently.

"I know," Patton said. "I still missed you."

Logan smiled. In truth, he had missed Patton too. He looked over at where Patton had been lying, and noticed a piece of paper on the floor, crayons scattered round it. The paper had markings all over, but Logan couldn't see what they were from this distance. He looked down at Patton and opened his mouth to ask what Patton had been drawing, but decided to wait. If he asked now, he would have to stop hugging Patton.

Finally, though, Patton shifted, and Logan loosened his grip. They moved slowly, and Logan rested his hands on Patton's shoulders as they pulled apart. Patton's hands lingered at Logan's waist for a few moments, but then he took another step back, Logan let his hands drop, but Patton caught one before it could reach Logan's side.

"I drew something," Patton said, tugging on Logan's hand with a shy smile. Logan let him lead him across the room. Patton stooped, still holding Logan's hand, and picked up the piece of paper. "It's an infographic," he said, handing it to Logan.

"I like infographics," Logan said, looking at it. It had no title, but he was quickly able to tell what it was an infographic about. There were six crayon drawings of himself and Patton partaking in various activities, and each picture was labeled underneath.

✓ holding hands, said one.

✘ kissing, said another, with several more ✘es around the picture.

A third picture, which looked fairly similar to the kissing picture due to the low level of detailing possible when drawing in crayon, was labeled ✓ hugs.

The fourth, labeled ✓ CUDDLES, had green checkmarks around the picture, like kisses had had ✘es.

The fifth picture, in which Logan was holding what he figured must be a furled rose and Patton was holding a red heart, had four labels: ✓ chocolate, ✘ flowers, ✓ flowers that are actually chocolate, and ~ Heart-Shaped Boxes. Logan figured, based on context, that the golden yellow label meant 'sometimes.'

The final portrait, in which Patton had his arms flung up in the air, Logan was blushing, and they were surrounded by little red hearts, was labeled ✓ HEARTFELT DECLARATIONS OF LOVE and ✘ in public.

A picture of a loaf of bread with green flecks, drawn in the lower corner, was marked, ✓ puns that result in food and ~ other puns. Ah, it was zucchini bread, then.

There was also a zucchini, labeled 'zuccinni' (yes, with two Ns), a pink heart with lines radiating off it, a heart with the aromantic flag in it, and the stripes of the aromantic flag alone. Logan had a feeling Patton had even used a white crayon for the middle stripe, even though it wasn't visible.

"Do you like it?" Patton said softly.

Logan looked up at him, and for a moment, thought that he had accidentally put on Patton's glasses by mistake this morning instead of his own. Patton was blurry. But no, Logan had been able to see fine on the way over. He must have gotten something in his eyes. He blinked it away.

"It is accurate," he said warmly, quite pleased. "Zucchini is misspelled."

"Oops," Patton whispered.

Logan grinned back at him. "I have something for you, too," he said, and Patton's eyes widened. Logan pulled the small package, a little bigger than a softball, from his coat pocket, handing it over. Patton tore the paper off.

Inside was the smallest, reddest teddy bear Logan had ever seen, hugging a bag of chocolate kisses that was as big as itself.

"Awww!" Patton said with a gasp. "He's so cute!!" He hugged the bear happily. Logan felt a peculiar combination of pride and jealousy. "Where'd you get him?"

"There's a table set up in the library," Logan said.

Patton blinked, looking back at Logan with bewilderment. "Why?"

"It's a fundraiser for St. Jude's," Logan explained. "They help kids with cancer."

Patton nodded a little, looking back at the bear. "But… why are they selling teddy bears and candy?"

Logan paused for a moment. "Because it's Valentine's Day," he said at last.

Patton's head jerked up. "Wait, that's _today_?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To see Patton's infographic, please click on [this link](https://enby-phoenix.tumblr.com/post/184923798627/part-5-of-the-college-crush-au-which)!
> 
> Chronologically, [9\. Aftermath](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891925/chapters/49848983) happens next. (You can read them in whatever order you want, but they're put up in the order I've written them, rather than chronologically)


	6. The B-Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman meets Virgil's sibling, and Virgil uses a very special word for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't decide whether to write this from Virgil's perspective or Roman's, so I did both. This takes place after Virgil and Roman have gone on several sort-of-dates, mostly movie nights and late night snacks.

**Virgil’s perspective**

Virgil doesn’t often skype home, but today he’s in a call with his younger sibling. Em’s a girl today, which she usually signalled by the rings she wore — a mood ring (usually dark blue) with her name on it on girl days and a silvery spoon ring on boy days — but since they were skyping, Virgil had asked at the beginning of the call.

As Emily’s talking, telling Virgil all about what’s been going on in her life lately, Roman comes in. Not wanting to interrupt her, Virgil just lifts his hand in a wave. Roman waves back.

Emily cuts herself off. “Ooh, is that your roommate?” she asks, and Virgil nods.

“Yeah.”

“I wanna meet him!”

“Okay, Em.” Virgil looks up at Roman again, moving to unplug his headphones. “Roman, come meet my little sister.”

Roman walks over to him, and Virgil scoots over on his bed to give Roman room to sit down next to him. After a moment, Roman does so, close enough that Virgil’s heart rate spikes up again.

“Roman, this is my sister, Emily,” Virgil says, nodding toward the screen.

“Hi!” Emily says happily, waving fast. Roman waves back.

“Emily, this is my boyfriend, Roman,” Virgil continues. He feels Roman suddenly stiffen next to him, and realizes that this is the first time either of them had said the word. In the little rectangle on the screen where he can see both their faces, Virgil sees that Roman’s eyes are wide, startled. Virgil can’t make himself turn to look at him.

The silence stretches out for what feels like an eternity. Finally, Roman whispers, “You called me your boyfriend.” Virgil can’t tell what that tone of voice means. Is Roman mad?

Virgil’s voice is stuck, again. His phone is too far away, at the foot of his bed. But, his computer is on his lap. He pulls up the chat section of skype. sorry roman, he types, and feels Roman get even stiffer. Virgil winces. Quickly, he continues typing. was I supposed to let you say it first?

The Roman on the screen turns to look at the Virgil on the screen. The real Virgil still can’t make himself turn to look at the real Roman sitting next to him.

“Virgil,” Roman says softly, and Virgil wants to melt. “No, Virgil, please.” Virgil stops breathing, frightened by what Roman’s going to say next. But what he actually says makes Virgil start breathing again, hopeful. “I wanna be your boyfriend.” Virgil stares at the digital Roman, and the Roman sitting so close next to him continues, “I just, I didn’t have the courage to… to ask you to…” He stops, suddenly, and Virgil finally looks at him, eyes wide. Roman looks distinctly flushed.

“Aww!” Emily says, and they both look back at the screen. She’s grinning at them, hands clasped together in front of her face. Virgil feels his own cheeks grow warm.

Roman’s talking quickly, and Virgil doesn’t register the first several words. “--m a useless gay mess and I don’t know how to properly ask guys out let alone how to ask to go steady, but do you want to? Go steady I mean?”

Virgil can’t speak. Roman seems to have run out of words as well, because he’s silent. Virgil glances at him out of the corner of his eye. That, he decides after a moment, is a hopeful expression on Roman’s face. Virgil looks down, seeing where Roman’s hands are bunching up his top blanket, and he drops his own hand down on top of one of Roman’s. Roman stills again, and Virgil carefully entwines their fingers.

With his other hand, because there’s no way he’s letting go but his voice is still absent, Virgil pecks out a message on the computer. id like that.

Roman doesn’t respond, and Virgil looks at him. Roman’s still staring at their clasped hands with an awed expression, but as Virgil watches, he raises his gaze and looks into Virgil’s face again. Hoping that he isn’t blushing, Virgil twitches his eyes toward his message. Thankfully, Roman looks. He’s quiet for a few moments, and then looks back at Virgil again.

“Steady boyfriends?” Roman asks. Virgil nods. _Yes. Please._

Emily squeals happily, and if he’d had his voice, Virgil feels he might do the same.

~~~

**Roman’s Perspective**

When Roman gets back to his room, Virgil’s already there. He’s on his computer, watching something that makes him smile, and Roman feels his heart melt at the sight of him happy. Virgil glances up at Roman as he enters, raising his hand in a wave. Roman grins and waves back. He intends to walk past the foot of Virgil’s bed, but then Virgil speaks.

“Yeah.” A pause. “Okay, Em.” Then, Virgil is looking up at Roman again and unplugging his headphones. “Roman, come meet my little sister.”

Roman comes around the bed, expecting to just peek at the screen for a moment and say hi, but Virgil scoots over as he approaches, obviously expecting Roman to sit down next to him. Roman does, daring to sit close enough that his shoulder touches Virgil’s. This is okay, right? Virgil doesn’t seem upset about it, but Roman makes a mental note to ask him later about boundaries. For now, Virgil is talking again.

“Roman, this is my sister, Emily.”

Emily, who looks to be about twelve, waves excitedly at Roman. “Hi!!!” she says.

Roman waves back, grinning at her enthusiasm.

“Emily,” Virgil says, continuing the introduction, “this is my boyfriend, Roman.”

Roman finds himself frozen in surprise. Virgil just called him his _boyfriend_. Did that actually just happen? For several long seconds, nobody says anything, not even Virgil’s excitable little sister. Finally, to confirm to himself that this was real, Roman whispers, awestruck, “You just called me your boyfriend.”

Virgil doesn’t answer at first. Then he’s pulling up the chat section on Skype and starts typing. sorry roman. Roman feels his heart drop. He’d misheard, or Virgil didn’t mean it. It takes him a moment to realize that Virgil’s still typing. was I supposed to let you say it first?

Oh. _Oh._ Roman’s heart lifts again, and he turns excitedly toward Virgil. Virgil’s not looking back. “Virgil,” Roman says imploringly. Virgil’s silent. “No, Virgil, please. I wanna be your boyfriend.” Virgil still doesn’t reply, and Roman rushes on. “I just, I didn’t have the courage to… to ask you to…” He understands, then, why Virgil’s voice vanishes sometimes. He can’t find the words, and he’s sure his face is red.

Virgil turns, then, looking into Roman’s eyes, and if Roman wasn’t blushing already, he was now.

Suddenly, their staring contest was broken by a voice. “Aww!” Roman had forgotten about Virgil’s sister, and he looked back at the screen, embarrassed. She was grinning at them, hands clasped in front of her face in a gesture that reminds Roman of Patton.

The words, so reluctant to come before, bubble out of Roman’s mouth now that he’s not looking right at his sweet, adorable roommate. “Virgil, I love you, I’ve been wanting to be your boyfriend for ages now, officially I mean, but I’m a useless gay mess and I don’t know how to properly ask guys out let alone how to ask to go steady, but do you want to? Go steady I mean?” Virgil doesn’t answer, and Roman holds his breath, waiting.

Virgil moves, then, putting his hand on Roman’s. Roman hadn’t realized til then that he’d been tightly gripping fistfuls of Virgil’s blanket, and now he loosens his grip. Virgil’s hand is moving, working its way into Roman’s grip, and he watches, as though from outside his own body, as Virgil’s fingers entwine with his own. It’s a perfect fit.

After he’s been staring at their hands for several seconds, Roman realizes that Virgil is looking at him. He looks back, and Virgil glances toward the screen. Roman follows his gaze. There, beside the grinning face of Virgil’s sister, is the chat section, bearing the words, id like that.

Roman’s heart leaps. “Steady boyfriends?” he asks hopefully. Virgil, looking into his eyes, nods.

A delighted squeal comes from the computer.


	7. The Class

The four of them frequently eat lunch together in the mess hall, with Virgil and Roman sitting on one side of the table and Patton and Logan facing them on the other side. Virgil always takes the seat next to the window, so that Roman is between him and the rest of the busy cafeteria, while Logan and Patton choose at random who will sit in which spot. Today, Logan sits across from Virgil. Their boyfriends are still loading up their plates, and haven't joined them yet.

"Virgil," Logan says, "There's an American Sign Language class opening up in the spring. Do you think it would be beneficial to you to take it?"

Virgil looks up from his plate, confused. "Why?"

"For when you go nonverbal," Logan explains. "Similar to how you maintain the ability to write or text, it is likely that you would still be able to sign."

"That's only helpful if someone else also knows it though," Virgil points out.

"I'm more than willing to learn it alongside you, if you think it would help," Logan answers.

"Really?"

"Of course," Logan assures him. "I need a National Diversity credit anyway, and I wanted to take a language class to get it."

Virgil looks thoughtful. "Well, maybe," he says.

Roman arrives then, bearing two plates heaped high with food and a glass of root beer. It's a wonder he didn't drop anything on his way over. "Hi guys," he says, unloading onto the table and sitting down next to Virgil. "Whatcha talking about?"

"There's a sign language class next semester," Virgil tells him, and Roman lights up.

"Ooh, yeah!" he says excitedly. "Several of us theatre peeps are taking it so we can chat backstage."

Virgil blinks at him. "So… you'll be learning sign language?" he asks. Roman nods with a grin. Virgil glances back at Logan, and then smiles himself. "I'm thinking of taking it too."


	8. Fluid

Virgil and Matt were skyping when Roman came back from rehearsal, looking exhausted. The actor flopped dramatically across the foot of Virgil's bed.

"Dee had us run the fight call over a dozen times," he moaned, looking up at the ceiling. "He's not satisfied unless it's _just so_ , which I get, but we only learned the choreography _yesterday_." Roman groaned again. "My arm is going to be sore tomorrow, and my head already hurts. What are you watching?" he finished in a much more interested tone.

"Skyping M," Virgil answered.

Roman sat up quickly, looking interested. "Ooh, nice, can I say hi?" he asked. 

"Yeah!" Matt cried in Virgil's headphones.

He unplugged them and turned around so they both could see the screen. Roman scooted up beside him. 

"Hi, Roman!!" Matt called, doing his favorite fast wave.

"Hi, Emily!" Roman replied happily. Virgil saw Matt wince, but Roman continued on. "How's it going, girl?"

"It's a boy day, actually," Matt said in a very small voice. There was silence for a moment, during which Virgil realized that he'd never told Roman that his little sibling was genderfluid. 

 _Please be cool about this_ , Virgil begged in his mind. _I don't want to have to break up with you._

Then Roman said, "Oh. My bad," and Virgil breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case, how's it going, little dude?" 

Matt smiled, relaxing again. "Good!" he said. "I read two books today."

"That's a lot," Roman said, sounding surprised and impressed. Virgil smirked.

"M loves reading," he said. "If he didn't have to go to school or eat or sleep, he'd have his nose in a book twenty-four seven."

Matt nodded cheerfully. 

Roman put one arm around Virgil's waist, holding him closer. Virgil stopped breathing for a moment, and he could feel his pulse from the inside. He leaned back against his boyfriend — his _boyfriend_ , how great was that?! — with a soft, smitten smile. It took him several moments to realize that Roman and Matt had continued talking, and Virgil tuned back in just in time to hear Roman ask,

"What name should I be using for you today?"

"Matthew," Matt answered promptly. "Matt for short. Or 'M' always works cause it's either my initial or the first syllable of my name, depending on the day."

"Gotcha," Roman said seriously. "Just boy days and girl days, or any others as well?"

Matt shook his head. "Just the two," he said. "I have some rings I wear to signal—" he held up his right hand, displaying the shiny spoon ring that meant 'boy'—  "but it works better in person."

"That makes sense," Roman said. "I'll just have to meet you in person sometime, then, huh?"

Matt giggled, nodding. 

In the background of the video chat, Virgil heard his mom call, "Matthew, are you still on the computer? I told you to go to bed half an hour ago! Say goodnight to your brother and get off, young man."

"Sorry mom," Matt yelled back. "Goodnight, Virgil. Goodnight Roman."

"Goodnight," Virgil and Roman echoed. Matt ended the call.

Virgil and Roman sat together for several moments, Roman's arm still around Virgil's waist. After a bit, Virgil said, "You took that well."

"Mm?"

"Matt," Virgil said, wondering why _these_ words were being difficult. Roman had already shown himself an ally, why was Virgil's brain panicking over talking about it? "Gender."

"Yeah, well…" Roman rubbed a circle on the side of Virgil's stomach with his thumb. Virgil forced himself to focus on what Roman was saying instead of on the delightful sensation. "I refuse to be the kind of brother-in-law who messes that sort of thing up." 

Virgil's brain buzzed with two thoughts fighting for dominance. One was that Roman sounded like he'd personally experienced someone like that. The other was that Roman had referred to himself as M's _brother-in-law_. That thought won out.

"Was that a proposal?"

Roman stiffened around him, and there was a tense silence. Virgil stared down at Roman's arm. Just before the silence stretched on long enough that Virgil felt like something was going to snap, Roman said softly, "I was gonna wait until we'd been dating for more than a few weeks…"

Virgil chuckled, tipping his head back to look into Roman's face. Roman was blushing, he noted with pleasure. Virgil wanted to say something, but his voice got stuck in the back of his throat again, so instead he just pursed his lips at Roman.

Roman immediately obliged, leaning down to kiss him. It was a very awkward kiss, due to their positions, but Virgil enjoyed it anyway. 

"Is that a yes?" Roman said, half teasing, when they separated.

Virgil felt his own face grow warm, and he nodded. He found his voice again, and said softly, "Have to be a long engagement, though."

"Oh, definitely," Roman agreed. "I wasn't expecting to get married until sometime after graduating college. You?"

Virgil shook his head. He hadn't been sure he'd _ever_ get married. Even now that he had a boyfriend (and quite possibly the best boyfriend out there, he was sure), Virgil couldn't imagine a wedding any time soon. "After college sounds good."

Roman grinned brightly, leaning in for another kiss, which Virgil gladly gave him. It was several seconds before they pulled apart again, and even then it was only by a fraction of an inch.

"Do you wanna use the F word first, or shall I?" Roman mumbled into Virgil's mouth.

Virgil was confused. "The F word?"

" _Fiancè_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chronologically, [10\. Thanksgiving, Part 1](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891925/chapters/51549883) happens next. (You can read them in whatever order you want, but they're put up in the order I've written them, rather than chronologically)


	9. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman just got back from an argument with a bigoted classmate. Virgil listens and lets him blow off steam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: discussion of bigoted ideas, specifically acephobia and ableism. About two swear words. Also, mention of sex. (not even of a sexual _event_ , just that sex exists and some people have it.)

Virgil was sitting on his bed, scrolling through tumblr, when Roman came in. “Eugh,” Roman groaned, dropping his backpack on the floor, and collapsed face down across the foot of Virgil’s bed. “ _Uuugh_!”

“Bad day?” Virgil guessed. Roman only replied by groaning again into the blanket. Virgil thought for a moment. It was Tuesday, so based on the time, Roman had just come back from his Calculus class. Ah. “Get in another fight?”

The grumpy silence that followed was enough to provide an answer. Virgil got up.

“Noo don’t go,” Roman whined, stretching out his arm toward Virgil.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Virgil said without looking, grabbing Roman’s pillows off his bed. He returned to his own, getting situated. Virgil’s big pillow was already at his back from earlier, and he tucked the little one under his knees. Roman’s first pillow went on Virgil’s lap, and the other went beside him. “Okay, get over here.”

It took about three seconds for Roman to drape himself over Virgil’s lap, and half a minute more of fidgeting to make himself comfortable. Once Roman had stilled, Virgil put his hand on the actor’s head, threading his fingers through his hair.

“Do you wanna talk about it, or just be pissed for a while?”

Roman seethed in silence for only a moment. “He’s just so infuriating! How can someone so smart be so wrong so consistently?”

“What queerphobic nonsense did he spout today?” Virgil asked gently. 

Roman loosed a frustrated scream into the pillow between his face and Virgil’s legs.

“That bad, huh?”

“He was dissing on aces again,” Roman muttered, turning his face to the side so Virgil could hear him better. “‘How do they know if they’ve never tried it?’ Some things you just know, dude! He seriously tried to suggest that aces should have to have sex before they can say they don’t like it, _and then_ had the _audacity_ to not only be offended when I turned it around and asked how he’s sure he’s not bi if he’s never had sex with a guy, but _also_ fail to see the hypocrisy.”

Virgil winced sympathetically.

“He refuses to believe that aroaces even exist,” Roman continued grumpily, pushing his face into the pillow again. “What, the idea that someone doesn’t feel _either_ sexual or romantic attraction is too much for your little peanut brain? And _no_ , it doesn’t make them antisocial, you don’t need to be attracted to someone to treat them with basic decency. But I guess that should be expected, coming from someone who also thinks empathy is necessary for someone to be a good person.”

“Honestly, fuck that guy,” Virgil said.

Roman made a sound of vehement agreement. “I’m related to a low-empathy aroace man who also happens to be one of the sweetest, kindest people in the entire world, because he _actively chooses_ to treat people well, so I know what a load of nonsense that is. Meanwhile, the guy who sits next to me in Calc has empathy, but he’s only ever _nice_ if he thinks he can get something out of it.”

Virgil wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that, but he continued to run his fingers comfortingly through Roman’s hair.

Roman sighed. “One of these days, I’m going to get in trouble for punching him.”

“Is your teacher sympathetic? Patton never got more than a slap on the wrist for nearly breaking that one guy’s nose.”

Roman partway sat up, startled. “Wait, what? When?”

“Near the beginning of our first semester?” Virgil said. “You weren’t there. One of my classmates was making fun of me for going nonverbal again, and Patton took him down with one punch.” Virgil grinned. “It was pretty awesome.”

“I bet,” Roman said with a grin, draping himself across Virgil’s lap again. “Wish I could have seen it.”

Virgil chuckled. “Feeling any better?”

After a pause, Roman asked, “If I say yes will you make me move?”

“No.”

“Yeah, I'm feeling better. Thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chronologically, this is the last chapter so far.


	10. Thanksgiving, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Virgil discuss their plans for Thanksgiving Break

It was one of those days when they were just casually in each other's space, this time on Roman's bed because it was against two walls and as such had a good corner for leaning into, which they weren't currently using. It was hard to say who was on top of who, honestly, because Roman was lying across one of Virgil's legs, kinda diagonally, and Virgil's other leg was twisted around one of Roman's, and Virgil's hands were in Roman's hair.

Roman had good hair for playing with. It was long enough that Virgil could really get his fingers into it, but short enough that he didn't have to move much to run his fingers through the whole length of it, and he didn't feel like it'd tangle if he stopped a stroke halfway. And Roman had taken a shower earlier, so it was extra soft and smelled nice, but the shower had also been long enough ago that his hair was dry again.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Roman asked, his voice a little bit muffled by the fact that he had his face in a pillow.

"Nothing."

Roman writhed, pushing himself up to give Virgil a surprised look. Virgil shrugged.

"I live too far away to go home for just a long weekend. Even a really long weekend like this one."

Roman paused his indignation for a moment to count on his fingers. "It's a six-day weekend!" he protested. "Practically a whole week off!"

"It's a two day drive," Virgil countered. "Both ways. Long days."

Roman lay down again to think about that, and Virgil put his hands back in Roman's hair. After a few moments, Roman asked, "Want to come home with me?"

Virgil's hands stilled. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Now that he'd suggested it, Roman seemed to like the idea more with every passing second. "You can meet my moms, they'll love you. And it's only a couple hours away."

Virgil was… nervous, at the thought of meeting Roman's moms. What if they didn't actually like him, or thought he shouldn't be dating their son? On the other hand, spending Thanksgiving _with_ Roman sounded far better than being alone in their room for a week.

"Alright."

Roman cheered softly, smushing his face into Virgil's side.

~~~

On Tuesday, as soon as they'd both finished with their classes, Roman and Virgil put a suitcase each into the trunk of Roman's car, and off they went.

Half an hour into the drive, Roman sat up suddenly, as though he'd been pricked by a pin. "How much Spanish do you know?"

"Um," Virgil said, thinking about it. "A little by osmosis I guess."

"Not even a highschool class?"

"I took French instead and then forgot it all anyway," Virgil said with a frown, starting to feel nervous. "Why?"

Roman glanced at him for a second before returning his gaze to the road. "I'm Latino," he pointed out. "Conversations at home are usually an even mix of Spanish and English."

"Oh." Virgil wondered if he should ask Roman to take him back to college and leave him there.

"I'll warn my moms, though," Roman added quickly. "And you can always ask me to translate for you."

Virgil sank down in his seat a little. "Okay."

Although Virgil's worries (mostly irrational, he knew, but that didn't make them go away) about meeting Roman's moms now included them trying to talk to him and him having no idea what they were saying, or them talking about him in Spanish _so that_ he couldn't tell, the rest of the road trip still went well. He and Roman chatted some, and drove in silence some.

"Are you adopted?" Virgil asked, about an hour and a half into the drive.

"Hm?" Roman said. "No. Why?"

Virgil shrugged. "You have two moms."

"Oh!" Roman grinned at him, but only took his gaze off the road for a portion of a second. "Yeah, no, that makes sense. But actually, one of my moms is trans, so they made me themselves."

"Oh. Okay." Virgil was quiet for another moment. "What do I call them?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mrs. Prince and Mrs. Prince? Or, um, Señora Prince, I guess. Or first names? Or, Mrs. Roman's Mom? I mean, Señora Roman's, uh,"

"Madre," Roman supplied.

"Señora Roman's Madre?"

"Technically, it'd be _Señora Madre de Roman_ ," Roman said, and it was interesting to see how he pronounced his own name differently in Spanish. "But most likely, they'll have you call them by name." He gave Virgil a mischievous grin. "When we get married, they'll probably want you to call them some variation of Mom."

Virgil wondered if his face was red. He turned his face to the window, looking out at the passing landscape and taking deep breaths. After a few seconds, he managed to say, "Okay. What are your moms' names?"

"Maní's name is Polly B., and Mamá Jota likes to try out different names a lot, so I dunno what she's using this week, but they always start with J, so Jota always works. That's the Spanish name for J," Roman added.

"Ho-tuh," Virgil tried. "Polly B. and Jota."

"Yeah!"

After almost three hours, they finally arrived. While they were getting their suitcases out of Roman's trunk, Virgil suddenly had a thought, and immediately felt panic well up. He grabbed Roman's arm.

"What is it?" Roman asked. Virgil couldn't answer. Roman put his hand on Virgil's. "Deep breaths, okay? It'll be alright. I'll be right there with you the whole way."

Virgil nodded shakily, stepping closer to Roman.

"Do you want me to hold you?"

Virgil nodded again. Roman put his arm around Virgil's shoulders, holding him close. Virgil closed his eyes, rested his forehead on Roman's shoulder, took several deep breaths, and managed to relax a bit.

"Better?"

Virgil didn't move. "Mm-hm."

"Do you wanna talk about what spooked you?" Roman asked gently.

Virgil kept his head where it was, but he did let go of Roman's arm with one hand to fiddle with the edge of his jacket instead. "...are they gonna want to hug me?"

"Uh." _That was a yes_ , Virgil thought. "I can tell them not to?"

"Please?"

"Okay."

They stood there quietly for several seconds longer, until Virgil was ready to move again. As they pulled apart, Roman asked, "Do you want to wait in the car while I—"

Virgil shook his head, cutting him off. He wanted to stay with Roman.

"Okay." Roman squeezed Virgil's hand with a soft smile. Together, they walked up the driveway, and Roman opened the door.


	11. Thanksgiving, Part 2

“So, whatcha think so far?”

They were in Roman’s room now, both sitting on his bed. Honestly, the last several minutes were a bit of a blur. Virgil remembered Roman leading him into the house, and almost immediately being greeted by two women, who promptly pulled Roman into a hug. He remembered Roman saying, “This is Virgil. He has anxiety and doesn’t know you yet, so no touching,” and he remembered Roman’s moms _actually listening_ and greeting him warmly without any attempts at a hug, or even a handshake. He did not, however, remember what other conversation was made, other than that there was some before Roman had brought him here.

“It’s… good,” Virgil said. “Your moms seem very nice.”

Roman grinned. “Good!” he said.

Virgil hesitated, unsure if he was about to say something rude. “I… wasn’t expecting one of your moms to be, um, white.” And now he realized that he wasn’t sure which name went to which mom, either. Roman had probably told him, but it was lost in the blur.

Thankfully, Roman didn’t seem offended. He laughed. “Why’s that?”

Virgil shrugged a bit, the sort of shrug that meant ‘lemme think a second,’ not ‘dunno.’ “I mean… you said you’re Latino,” he said after a moment. “But one of your moms is white. Wouldn’t that make you half Latino? And half white?”

Roman chuckled. “Naw,” he said. “Latino means ‘of Latin American descent,’ so Mamá Jota being Latina means that I’m Latino too.”

“Oh.”

“Besides, how do you think I have white cousins without one white parent?” Roman added.

Virgil didn’t answer for a second. “I don’t know any of your cousins,” he pointed out at last.

Roman got a confused look on his face. Then he looked thoughtful. “Did… did I forget to mention that Logan’s my cousin?”

Virgil stared at him. Roman was serious. “Yes, you did.”

“Oh. Whoops. Well, Logan is my cousin. His dad is Maní’s big brother.”

“Do you have a lot of cousins?”

Roman thought, counting on his fingers. When he’d passed five, Virgil interrupted with a more pertinent question.

“How many will be around for Thanksgiving?”

“Logan, for sure,” Roman said. “And he’ll probably bring Patton, he usually does.” He paused. “In retrospect, it _may_ have been obvious that they were together.”

Virgil laughed, feeling the tension in his chest ease. Roman grinned sheepishly at him. Virgil took Roman’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

“In my defense, they’ve been best friends since practically before my memories start,” Roman said. “And I wasn’t there when they decided to move from a platonic relationship to a queerplatonic one, and they didn’t outright tell us.” He paused again. “At least, I don’t _think_ they did.” After a few moments thinking about that, Roman shook himself. “Right, people visiting.”

Virgil nodded.

“Logan lives down the road from us, and Patton lives across the street from him, so we’ll probably see them several times. We may or may not see Logan’s parents or his little siblings.”

Virgil looked inquisitive, and Roman explained, “Twins. They’re not too much younger than us, they’re in highschool, and they used to be one each boy and girl, but then they had a fight a couple years back about whose turn it was to be the girl twin, so now you never know what combo you’ll get.”

Virgil smiled. So that was why Roman had grasped the genderfluid thing so smoothly with M. Roman grinned back at him.

“Logan’s and my other shared relatives live across town,” he continued, “so they’ll probably only be here for a day, maybe two. That’s my aunt and uncle Alex and Bob, and my cousin Reem. Oh yeah, and the baby.”

Virgil felt a twist in his gut. “I’m… not great with little kids,” he admitted.

“That’s okay,” Roman assured him. “The baby’s really chill, anyway.”

“Does the baby have a name?”

Roman thought for a second. “Sandy. And Sandy isn’t _exactly_ a baby anymore, I think they’re like… one and a half-ish? now.”

“They?” Virgil repeated, and Roman perked up.

“Yeah! My aunt and uncle are raising Sandy without an assigned gender.”

“That’s… pretty neat,” Virgil said.

Roman grinned. “Yeah, I think so too.”

Virgil leaned against his boyfriend’s side. “What’s Reem like?” he asked.

“Rambunctious,” Roman replied at once. “He’s our age, only a few weeks younger than me. Actually, we look a lot alike, except that he’s white, and we’ve been mistaken for twins. We got into a lot of trouble and adventure together when we were kids.”

Virgil nodded a bit.

“Also,” Roman added musingly, “he doesn’t have much of a filter. So there is that.”

“Mm.”

Roman bumped his shoulder against Virgil’s. “It’ll be alright,” he said. “Reem can be loud sometimes, but he’s a good guy, and if he’s too intense for you, I’ll make him dial it back a bit. Okay?”

Virgil nodded. “Thanks. Who else is coming?”

“Well, that’s all the relatives I’ve got on that side,” Roman said, then amended, “Well, there technically is one other uncle, but he’s super transphobic and got kicked out of the family.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, we don’t talk to him. Anyway, all my cousins on Mamá Jota’s side of the family are actual adults, with jobs and stuff, some in other states or even other countries, so they’re less likely to be here. And of the ones who _do_ live nearby, most of them are married, so they have even more family dinners to choose from. I dunno yet how many plan to be here. Probably at least one, though.”

Virgil nodded.

“Hey, question,” Roman said, and Virgil lifted an eyebrow at him. “How do you want me to introduce you?”

“Hm?”

“My roommate? Boyfriend? Fiancé?”

Virgil considered it. “Yes.”

Roman laughed. “Which one?”

Virgil shrugged, grinning. “You pick.”

“‘This is Virgil, my roommate-boyfriend-fiancé,’?” Roman said, grinning back.

“Sure!”

Roman suddenly lit up. “Ooh!” he exclaimed. “Can I call you my betrothed?”

Virgil blinked, surprised. Then he smiled, feeling his face warm again. “Okay.”

Roman looked delighted. “May I give my betrothed a kiss?”

Virgil pretended to consider it for a few seconds. “You may,” he said at last, and Roman leaned in and kissed him. Virgil kissed back.

“Oh, one more question,” Roman said when they pulled apart again. “Where do you wanna sleep? We can share my bed — it’s a full, so we should both fit fine — or we’ve got an air mattress we can put on the floor, or the livingroom couch is a pull-out bed.”

“Do you hog the blankets?”

Roman made a thinking face. “I don’t know,” he said at last. “I haven’t shared a bed in a long time. I don’t think so, though.”

“We can try it.”

Roman smiled, and Virgil leaned against him again, bumping his forehead against Roman’s shoulder.

“So…” Roman said after a few moments. “Shall we get some supper?” Virgil hesitated for a moment, and Roman added, “You don’t have to hold a conversation if you want to. But I think it would be nice for us all to eat together.”

Virgil nodded, getting up. “Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the Thanksgiving story isn't up yet, but of the chapters which _are_ up, [5\. The Infographic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18891925/chapters/44845600) is chronologically next.


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